The Tidal Zone by Sarah Moss (Review Copy)
I have heard a lot about this book through some of the YouTube book vloggers I follow. The Tidal Zone isthe story of Adam - A stay at home Dad who receives a call from his fifteen year old daughter's school to inform him that for no apparent reason Miriam has collapsed and stopped breathing. In that moment his life is plunged into darkness and the story of his life and his family are rewritten and re-told around this event from Adam's perspective.

The book explores parental love, overwhelming fear, illness and recovery. The book has a lot of dark humour and engages gender roles, politics, academia and the NHS it's well written and has a good literary style that I am starting to enjoy more.

The Fireman by Joe Hill
Audiobook via Audible
This has been my first audiobook experience in a very long time. The books by Hill that I have read I enjoyed so decided to use Audible after hearing positive things from the Book Riotpodcast. The first thing I noticed that it's over 24 hours long - when did audiobooks become so long ?? but it comes in handy when are preparing blog posts :) also it's narrated by Kate Mulgrewand works so well.

A terrifying plague sweeps through America. No-one knows it's origin point but it's striking cities one by one, medical professionals are calling it Draco Incendia Trychophyton but to everyone else it's Dragonscale - a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks it victims with black & gold marks across their bodies before well before they just burt into flames.

Hitomi takes a cash register job in a quirky thrift shop which she is strangely attached to as are the local villagers who are fascinated by the items that are bought and sold which all contain their own surprising story. The shop is owned by ladies man Mr Nakanoand includes his sister Masayo and a young man Takeo who starts a relationship with Hitomi.

Once again Kawakami's words just flow through each page of this novel exploring treasure hoarders and secret seekers bargain hunters and would be lovers. I did enjoy it but I have been spoilt with so many other great books this year that at the moment I don't have the fondness for it like I have with Strange Weather.

I have made no secret of how much I loved The Vegetarianand although I received both books at the same time as I decided to hold off as I don't like reading the same authors work back to back unless it's a series or collection. Like with Kawakami, Kang's work past or future will always have a place on my bookshelves.

Human Acts is set around the Gwangju massacre, South Korea 1980 and is divided into 6 acts each act is from the perspective from people affected by the massacre & Kang wonderfully immerses herself in these stories and events trying to make a sense of & peace with something so horrific in her own birth place.

Delicate and harrowing all at the same time and once again have reenforced my love for Kang's writing.

I started reading this just before the longlist of the The Man Booker Prize was announced so I was very happy to see it appear amongst the chosen books. I would highly recommend reading The Four Books before this as for me this added to my enjoyment of Thein's work.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a story of an extended family in China showing the lives of two generations - parents who have lived through General Mao's Cultural Revolution and the children who became student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

This week's edition of the blog is being posted a day early. Mainly because I have been a bit more organised this week :).

Of course Harry Potter and the Cursed Child gets another mention. Myself & Mel both finished this very quickly after getting a copy and at one point it had two bookmarks in it as we both wanted to read it.

First day sales have been incredible according to both Waterstones & Foyles. pre sales of the book had reached well over 100,000 copies at Waterstones alone.

Granta Bookshas acquired two books by Milan based author Lisa Halliday. One of them being her debut Asymmetry which Granta plan to publish early 2018.

According a new study books may help you live longer. The study in the Elsevier journal Social Science and Medicine found that people who read live on average two years longer than non readers regardless of gender, health or education.

Not a lot to report this week but still some big things have happened.

My favourite book award The Man Booker Prizeannounced it's longlist. I was literally poised in front of our Mac in anticipation for the announcement. You can read more about it on my posthere
and I have actually placed a bet on who I think the winner will be.

Author Phillip Pullman is to be the first patron of Literature Wales. Pullman was appointed to the role as part of Literature Wales ethos to encourage children to create and enjoy literature.

Finally this week saw the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We were away for the midnight release but this was taken by Melthis morning, she hadn't even left the bookshop before snapping this picture. No doubt this will end up on respective blogs once it's been read

1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins2. After You by Jojo Moyes3. Murder House by James Patterson4. Coffin Road by Peter May
5. The Guilty by David Baldacci
Back next week for more bitesize book news

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thein - I am currently reading thisAll That Man Is by David SzalayMy Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout Work Like Any Other by Virginia ReevesEileen by Ottessa MoshfeghThe Many by Wyl MenmuirHystopia by David MeansThe North Water by Ian McGuireHis Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae BurnetHot Milk by Deborah LevySerious Sweet by A.L.KennedyThe Schooldays of Jesus by J.M.CoetzeeThe Sellout by Paul Beatty

The Shortlist will be announced on the 13th September with the eventual winner being crowned on the 25th October.
This also means that theMan Booker Podcast will soon be making a very welcome return.

Update from last's week post. Browser the Cat is not being evicted. After a public outcry and loads of signatures Browser will now stay at the library.

Thomas Morris has won the English Language Wales Book of the Yearfor his short story collection We Don't Know What We're Doing. Caryl Lewis won the Welsh Language award for her novel Y Bwthyn. Other awards included The Roland Mathias Poetry Awardwhich went to Philip Close for his collection Songs of Carbon & Jasmine Donahaye'sLosing Israel won the creative non fiction award.

Co Founder of the festival Val Mcdermid was also honoured with a outstanding contribution award which took place in Harrogate.

Goldsboro Books owner David Headley has launched Bookman & Black. A new venture that will have strong book values, support publishers & authors with promotions and marketing giving the feel of an independent book shop all in a online presence.

Books bring people together. When I first met Mel we were both reading the same book. This particular story started of with a tweet to the Oxford Road branch of Waterstones and then later became a wedding.

It's no secret that I loved books from a very early age. I nearly always had a book with me & on the odd occasion I was really naughty as a child and everything was taken out of my room I used to hide a few books underneath the Mattress.

I wanted to post a few titles that I was really fond of & some that have just always stayed in my mind good or bad.

Roger Red-hatby Shelia McCullagh

I don't mistreat books now but back in my very early school days this book was my nemesis. I don't think it was the books & stories themselves although I flat out refused to read the Billy Blue Hat ones for reasons that now escape me. I think maybe it was down to the fact that I could read well before I started school (Thanks Mum xx) and I was expected to read at the class level & not allowed to advance when I wanted.

Doggerby Shirley Hughes

This is first book that I remember actually getting really emotional about & shedding actual boy tears too even though at the time we had cats called Mork & Mindy - the whole story just swept me up on huge emotional roller coaster - a boy looses his toy dog at a fair, it's sold to someone else for 5p will he get his favourite possession back ? it's just too much.

The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

Long before Harry Potter came the story of life at a magical boarding school. I had a book crush on Mildred Hubble - I briefly saw the TV show and I think this was the first example of the book being better than what was presented on screen.

Fat & Skinny

I really don't have fond memories of this book and I can't find and author or cover for it. From memory it was a cartoon cover with people racing. This book got me first detention for refusing to sit in class whilst this was being read. I used to get bullied because of my cerebral palsy so I didn't really find the humour, stories or rhymes funny as I saw it lead to others getting bullied. I was pretty stubborn even back then & it was finally agreed that whilst that book was read I could go a sit in the library

He-Man Meets the Beast
This was my first read along with cassette book - The Beast used to scare me in the audio. I ended up getting other classics such as Skeletor's Ice Attack & The Iron Master but this was my favourite.

The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien

There is always that one book that will stay with you forever & this is it. I remember where I was thie first time I saw it. I loved this so much that I never returned the school copy I think my mum may even have it still in the loft of nostalgia. I have owned many copies over the years. It took me a while to finish it back then but I have recently purchased the hobbit & lord of the rings books in really nice editions (pictured above) & I'm quite interested how quickly I get through them all